Week of June 8th, 2015


SHAKE IT, BABY!

That’s what we did in music class this week!

We used all sorts of shakers—from woven basket shakers filled with dried black beans, to maracas, to fruit and veggie Remo shakers! Not only did we explore the various sounds that different types made, but we also practiced rhythms, body movements, and tempo/dynamic control while shaking.
My students also practiced counting with shakers—using my over-sized dice, we “rolled for rhythms” and practiced adding together the sum of the dice to dictate how many shakes would follow. We also played a fun “fruit salad” game where I played the drum and children “jumped in to the bowl” when their fruit or vegetable shaker was called. Also found in this week’s song list was directional (left and right, up and down) practice and the use of a little self-control through planned resting.
Overall, we had a blast! Check out the pictures and video and don’t forget to connect with your child using the extender questions below!

Fun In the Infant Room




































SCHOOL AGE CLASS:


Yahoo! School age music class is here for the summer! I’m so thrilled to be working with the children. Today we got right down to business working with quarter notes—recognizing them, as well as learning to draw them. The kids not only learned about quarter notes and rests, they also learned that “b” is on the middle of the treble clef, and we worked on a “B Bear” worksheet to exercise this recognition. The kids are SO sharp and are able to read a quarter note rhythm and play accordingly already. We also began working with our xylophones in conjunction with reading on the staff—only the “B” bar so far. Later on next week, we will add a second note, and work on reading some basic music that incorporates two notes, and quarter rhythms. Make sure to ask your child about it and see the video of them rocking the rhythm below!


QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What kind of shakers did you see in music class? Woven basket shakers, fruit and veggies shakers, egg shakers, rainsticks, maracas...
 to name a few!

2) What was inside some of the shakers? Beans, rice, small stones